Method and apparatus for establishing communications with a remote node on a switched network based on hypertext calling received from a packet network

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a system and a methodology enabling a first provider party to provide to a second recipient party software and services to enable the recipient party to embed in an Internet e-mail of the recipient party directed to an addressee, an HTML hyperlink file which includes a telecommunication initiating trigger, sending the e-mail to the addressee via the Internet, the addressee upon receiving the e-mail actuating the hyperlink via its trigger and, responsive to the trigger actuation, connecting the addressee via the Internet to a web page located on an Internet server, wherein the web page includes a request for a telephone number of the addressee. The addressee entering its telephone number information at the server, which information is communicated to a database associated with the server, the server communicating with the database and with a telephony switch, including sending to the switch instructions which result in the switch originating and managing a public switched telephone network (PSTN) communication between the recipient party and the addressee.

INDEX TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/851,466 filed Sep. 7, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,957,368 issued Jun.7, 2011 which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/353,695, filed Jan. 29, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,274,686 issued Sep.25, 2007 which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/309,535, filed May 11, 1999, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,506issued Mar. 18, 2003.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to data communications terminals andnetworks, switched telephone networks, initiating communicationsconnectivity on a switched network in response to hyperlink supplieddata retrieved from a packet data network, and more particularly to thesystem and methodology for establishing and enabling the use of suchnetworks.

BACKGROUND ART

Telephone marketing and sales systems have been used by merchants foryears to remotely accept orders from consumers without requiring a tripto a retail establishment. Merchants have traditionally advertised theirproducts for sale to the public using print, radio and television mediafrequently including a telephone number for consumers to call to obtainfurther information and place orders for their products. Salesrepresentatives at a centralized merchant sales facility answer thecustomer calls, answer questions and place orders for products.

Typically a merchant telephone sales facility includes salesrepresentative stations. Such stations are each equipped with computerterminals for accessing product database and ordering systems. Eachstation further has a telephone. Incoming telephone calls fromcustomers, placed using telephones at the customer premises, are carriedby a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to the merchant telephonesales facility. Here the incoming lines are terminated at an automaticcall distributor (ACD). The ACD monitors the sales representativestations for availability and activity, and routes the incoming calls tothe telephone of the appropriate available sales representative. The ACDmay include other functionality, such as receipt and display on theappropriate telephone of the telephone number of the calling party,using calling number identification (CID) data supplied by the PSTN.

Upon acceptance of an incoming telephone call, a sales representativesolicits information from the calling party to determine the nature ofthe call, e.g., the product of interest to the caller, the type ofinformation being sought, etc. The sales representative may also use theCID information to access any records about that customer that may bestored on a product database and ordering system. The ACD may furtherinclude a voice response unit (VRU) to automatically solicit preliminaryinformation from customers, record the responses, route the call to anappropriate sales representative, and display or playback any recordedresponses.

A disadvantage of such a prior art telephone marketing method is thatthere is no automatic way for the sales representative to know whatmaterials prompted the customer to place the call or what informationhas been reviewed by the customer immediately prior to the call.Further, the sales representative must convey all information to thecaller orally or by mailing or faxing information, such as graphicliterature. Because the caller may not obtain sufficient or satisfactorytypes of information orally, and because of the delays and inability tointeractively access the customer's needs if information is sent viamail or facsimile, the customer's product evaluation and selectionprocess may be compromised and/or sales may be lost.

In addition to conventional print, radio and television advertising,merchants are increasingly making information available, and acceptingorders over electronic data links. Using a home computer, a potentialcustomer may access a merchant's electronic catalog system, obtainproduct information, and may place orders. While some merchants maintaindedicated computers called “servers” to provide dedicated dialup serviceover the PSTN, an increasing number of businesses are accessible overthe Internet. In particular, the graphics capabilities and hot links(also referred to as hot spots, hyperlinks, and hypertext) supported byhypertext transport protocol (HTTP) of the Worldwide Web (WWW) sites ofthe Internet, have resulted in many merchants offering their own homepages advertising their products and services.

A “client” or potential customer can access the WWW of the Internetusing a home, desktop, or personal computer (PC), running web browsersoftware such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. The client personalcomputer, or the like, running the browser software, has communicationsinterfacing means for connecting to and communicating with remoteservers or web sites on the Internet, conventionally via a clientserver. The browser software displays textual and graphical informationretrieved from the web on a video display or monitor. Digital audioinformation is conventionally played either through speakers internal tothe PC or auxiliary external speakers. Control of and data entry intothe PC is provided by a keyboard and graphical input device, i.e.,mouse. In particular, the user moves a cursor displayed on the monitorto designate a desired portion of the display.

The browser software provides a tool for the user to navigate the weband other types of Internet sites (e.g., FTP file transfer protocol andGopher sites), without having to know the lengthy uniform resourcelocator (URL) addresses of the sites to be accessed. Instead of enteringthe URL, the user employs the mouse to click on a highlighted portion oftext (known as “hypertext”) or graphics (together known as“hyperlinks”), to retrieve associated information. The browserinterprets the hypertext formatted as hypertext markup language (HTML)and transmitted using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). If thehypertext points to an information source outside of the currenthypertext page, it initiates a service request to the URL associatedwith the selected hypertext. Thus, each page of information in HTMLformat includes not only text and graphics, but the embedded addressesof sites having related information.

Most Internet applications, including HTTP, follow a client servermodel. One computer system, called the server, runs the hypertextdatabase part of the application. The server is provided by a merchantor other information source maintaining a home page on the web. Othercomputers, called clients, request services from the server, usually inthe form of information requests. On a UNIX system the server part ofthe application normally runs in the background and is called a“daemon,” pronounced “demon.” Servers are identified by the type ofservice involved. Therefore, a system running the HTTP server daemon iscalled an HTTP server. A given computer system can have multiple serversrunning simultaneously. Thus, a single server might simultaneouslyfunction as an HTTP server, an FTP server, and a LAN (local areanetwork) server, as well as several other types of servers.

A transaction is initiated when the HTTP client requests a service orresource from the server. The client software uses a Unique ResourceIdentifier (URI) to determine where the desired resource resides on theInternet. A URI is either a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or UniformResource Name (URN.) An URL specifies the actual location of theresource, while an URN identifies the place where the resource islocated and must be translated into a an URL. In current practice URLsare always used for HTTP applications.

An HTTP server exists for the purpose of sending objects to a requesterusing the HTTP protocol. One such object is a Home Page. A Home Page issimply a document that has been composed or “markedup” using HTML.

A typical request-response scenario might proceed as follows. A user ona Microsoft Windows equipped operating system (OS) may be executing aWeb Browser such as Netscape. The user clicks on a hot spot within thedocument that contains an URL. The browser recognizes the tag asidentifying an URL, encapsulates it within an HTTP wrapper and passes itto the OS TCP stack, which includes code to handle the data. The OS theninitiates a connection with the server's host system. Once the OS andthe host system establish communication, the OS ships the request to thehost. This request is passed through the various protocol layers to theHTTP daemon or server. The server interprets the request, checks itsMIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) type, and sends the clientthe resource and information about the MIME type of the resource. Whenthe OS receives the resource it passes it back to the browser, whichexamines the response. If the returned object is an HTML document, thebrowser displays the document on the computer display screen. If theobject is a MIME type that the browser cannot handle, it checks itsassociate table and launches the associated helper program software,passing the resource to it for processing. In the meantime, once therequest has been satisfied, either the server or the client breaks theconnection, thus freeing up the browser for another request.

While the Internet and, particularly the WWW, provide for rapiddissemination of data to potential customers, interactivity is limitedto the retrieval of information under client request, i.e., the pullmodel server. That is, the customer has control over the informationretrieved from the available pages of information on the merchantsserver. However, there is no means for the merchant to interactivelyguide the user through the various pages of information stored on theserver. If a potential customer cannot locate or identify information ona product of interest, the merchant has no means to interactivelyassist, nor would the merchant even know of the dilemma of the customer.

An apparent lack of security is another problem that must be addressedby merchants in selling services and products on the Internet. Theseproblems include an inability to verify the authenticity of a purchaseor ability to pay for a purchase, particularly since the information maybe compromised as it traverses the Internet. Therefore, many merchantsrely on conventional telephone calls to take orders and accept creditcard and other forms of payment. However, this requires that thepotential customer identify the appropriate merchant telephone number,abandon their computer and possibly disconnect from their Internetaccess provider (ISP) in order to place a telephone call to themerchant.

Accordingly, it was perceived that a need existed for an Internet typebrowser system that would automatically initiate connectivity with amerchant over a switched telephone network, independent of the datanetwork providing Internet connectivity with the merchant. It wasfurther perceived that a need existed for an Internet type dataretrieval system that would accommodate simultaneous and coordinateddata transmission over a packet data network, and dedicatedcommunications over a switched telephone network, between a user and aremote information provider site.

The system and method described in Dekelbaum et. al. U.S. Pat. No.5,838,682 (682 patent), issued Nov. 17, 1998, has been offered, at leastin part, in response to these and other needs.

The Dekelbaum et al. 682 patent describes a combination of networksystems which includes an Internet type access arrangement having anautodialer for automatically establishing communications with thefacility of a merchant over a switched network, while maintainingInternet connectivity over a packet data network. The autodialer, incombination with the merchant's server, coordinates between the Internetsession and the newly established switched connectivity. The sessionhistory from the prior Internet session is supplied to a salesrepresentative receiving the autodialed call. The sales representativeis provided with a terminal for controlling the merchant's server topush data to the client in response to the interactive sessionsimultaneously conducted over the switched network.

In a typical use of this system, a method of establishing connectivitywith a remote site based on hypertext format messages is initiated by auser clicking on the appropriate hot spot or hypertext of the Merchant'sWeb page. This causes the Web Browser to encapsulate the appropriate URLwith an HTTP wrapper and pass the message to the Windows operatingsystem TCP stack. The operating system connects to and passes therequest to the host server. The host server responds with the requestedresource. The operating system receives and passes the resource to thebrowser, and the browser examines the MIME type to determine if itshould launch the autodialer helper program. Alternatively, if theresource includes an applet, the executable content of the applet formsthe autodialer, which is executed by the Web Browser directly. If theautodialer helper program is launched, it initiates a dialing sequence.Further information regarding the architecture and operation of thissystem may be obtained by reference to the above identified U.S. Pat.No. 5,838,682. That patent is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In addition to the foregoing systems and methods proposed in the 682patent, there is yet another hyperlink methodology now in use forinitiating simultaneous data and voice communication over the Internetand the PSTN. This system is designed for use in a situation where amerchant deals with potential customers or end users of his servicesthrough an independent sales intermediary or reseller, i.e. anintermediary business. The reseller or intermediary then markets theproduct or service to merchants who rely on print and the likeadvertising and electronic commerce in marketing their products.

A survey by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) found in 1999 that 95percent of their respondents use the Internet for sales and marketingapplications, up from 83 percent one year ago. The DMA reports thatthere has been a steady increase in the percentage of direct marketershaving web sites, with 90 percent reporting a web presence this year.Two-thirds of the direct marketing companies surveyed said that theirweb site is targeted toward other businesses.

Thus, it is apparent that there is a growing electronic commerce market,and in particular a business to business market. The foregoing review ofthe development of systems to handle this demand makes it apparent thatthere is a need for improved systems and methodology for using a hybridpacket data and switched network for handling business to business salesin organizations which handle a large volume of transactions withindependent resellers or intermediaries.

A prior art proposal for meeting that need is illustrated in the systemis shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows a system for using the Internet and acall button hyperlink on a home or web page of a reseller to initiate onthe Internet a telephony connection between the reseller and aprospective customer. Such a prospective customer is sometimes referredto as an end user herein. The telephony connection may be maintained viaa public switched communications network (PSTN), and existsimultaneously with the Internet connection.

Referring to FIG. 3, the Internet is shown as a cloud 300. The serviceproviding merchant or service provider operates a web server 302 and atelephone switch 304. The site of an intermediary or reseller isindicated at 306. A potential end user customer of the intermediary orreseller at 306 is shown at 308. The reseller maintains a web site orpage on the server 302. The web page of the reseller includes ahyperlink, which is indicated by a graphic display, such a button,highlighted text, or the like. The web page includes an invitation topress or activate the hyperlink button to initiate an immediatetelephone call to the web page proprietor. In this instance, the webpage is that of the reseller. When potential end user customer reachesthe web page of the reseller by browsing or by address, he examines thecontent of the web page and encounters the invitation to click on thehyperlink button. This is shown by the broken line at 1 in FIG. 3.

Upon activation of the hyperlink by clicking on or “pressing” thebutton, the server 302 validates the request and signals the telephoneswitch 304 to place calls to the reseller 306 and to the prospective enduser customer 308. This is shown by the broken line at 2 in FIG. 3. Thetelephone switch 304 thereupon calls the reseller 306 and indicates thatthe reseller has a hyperlink call. This is shown by the broken line 3.The switch then calls the potential customer. This is shown at 4 in FIG.3. The two calls are then bridged together by the telephone switch. Theweb server may now send customer data via e-mail to the reseller, and athank you e-mail to the customer.

Among the advantages claimed for this system are the following. A simpleadd-in button generates a personal interaction between the providercompany and a prospect, helping to convert browsers to buyers. When aninterested web shopper encounters a call button on a web site, theymerely click on it, initiating a pop-up menu. The menu asks the user fora call back phone number of their choice, and a time for the call back,ranging from immediately to several hours. In this manner the shoppercontrols the timing of the return call. There is no need to dial an 800number and wait for a reply, and there is no need for special software.No additional hardware, software or extra phone lines are needed for abusiness to start using the service. It allows the merchant customer totalk to his customers at the critical moment, when they are mostinterested in the product or service of the merchant. Questions may beimmediately answered and obstacles to closing a sale removed.

A system of the general type just described has been used commerciallyin the United States by USA Global Link of Fairfield, Iowa 52556.Information is available at www.instantcall.com. Another seeminglysimilar service appears to be on the market by PrivaCom B.V. of theNetherlands. See http://privanet.com/cnt introduction.html.

While these prior systems and services have advantages, and haveachieved a measure of success in the marketplace, they also are subjectto disadvantages. A principal disadvantage resides in the fact that theaudience of potential end user customers is primarily limited to thosewho reach the web site of the reseller by browsing or by seeking thatsite by address.

A need exists for a system and method of operation of a hybridcommunication system employing a switched telephone network and a packetdata network that implements push model methodology to initiate switchedtelephone network connectivity between a merchant and a prospective enduser customer. A need exists for permitting either a service provider ora service reseller employing such a system to target prospectivecustomers by address, rather than reliance on the prospective customersaccessing the provider or the reseller's web page.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Objectives

It is one objective of the invention to overcome limitations anddisadvantages inherent in the prior systems, and to meet presentlyexisting needs and provide all the advantages claimed for the presentsystems.

It is another objective of the invention to enable a push model for asystem and method of operation of a hybrid communication systememploying a switched telephone network and a packet data network thatimplements push model methodology. The push model methodology initiatesswitched telephone network connectivity between a merchant and aprospective end user customer, independent of the prospective customerseeking out or browsing to a node of the merchant.

It is another objective of the invention to enable a push model for asystem and method of operation of a hybrid communication systememploying a switched telephone network and a packet data network thatimplements push model methodology to initiate switched telephone networkconnectivity between a merchant and a prospective end user customer,whose identity is selected by the merchant for solicitation, independentof the prospective customer seeking out or browsing to a node of themerchant.

It another object of the invention to provide a system and method for amerchant or reseller to proactively provide to a prospective customer anopportunity to interactively communicate with the merchant or resellerwithout first initiating connection with a presence of the merchant orreseller on a packet data network.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system andmethod for a merchant or reseller to use electronic mail to proactivelyprovide to a prospective customer an opportunity to interactivelycommunicate with the merchant or reseller, without first initiatingconnection with a presence of the specific merchant or reseller on apacket data network.

It is yet another object of the invention to implement a method of oneentity sending to another entity by electronic mail a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) file containing a telecommunication initiating trigger.

It is another object to enable the recipient of an electronic mailmessage to immediately and automatically reach the sender via aconnection over a switched telephone network.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system andmethod which enables recipient response to the electronic mail byactuation of any initiating trigger. This response to trigger actuationincludes obtaining a telephone number of the actuating entity, andprocessing the telephone number information about that entity inconsumer premises equipment (CPE). That CPE equipment includes a server,database, and switch. These are used to establish a telephony connectionbetween the electronic mail originator and the recipient entity via theswitch and a public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following specification, claims and appended drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention involves a system and a methodology enabling oneparty to send to another party by electronic mail, a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) file containing a telecommunication initiating trigger,responding to actuation of the initiating trigger at least in part byobtaining a telephone number of the other party, with the telephonenumber being obtained at least in part by transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) communication between the otherparty and a web page on a server, processing information about the otherparty including the telephone number, in consumer premises equipment(CPE) which includes a server, database and switch, to establish atelephony connection between the electronic mail originator and therecipient party via the switch and a public switched telephone network(PSTN).

More particularly the invention involves a system and a methodologyenabling a first provider party to provide to a second recipient partysoftware and services to enable the recipient party to embed an HTMLhyperlink file in an Internet e-mail of the recipient party to anaddressee. The hyperlink includes a telecommunication initiatingtrigger, which sends the e-mail to the addressee via the Internet. Theaddressee, upon receiving the e-mail, actuates the hyperlink by means ofits trigger. In response to the trigger actuation, the addressee isconnected via the Internet to a web page located on an Internet server,wherein the web page includes a request for a telephone number of theaddressee. The addressee enters its telephone number information at theserver. This information is communicated to a database associated withthe server. The server communicates with the database and with atelephony switch, and sends to the switch instructions which result inthe switch originating and managing a public switched telephone network(PSTN) communication between the recipient party and the addressee.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a packet data network such as theInternet, and a switched telephone network such as the PSTN, with thecombined system including a server, database and a telephone switch.

FIG. 2 is a simplified flow diagram illustrating a methodology showingone example of using the system of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram illustrating a prior art system.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a simplified block diagram of asystem according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. A packetdata network, such as the Internet, is shown as a cloud 100. A publicswitched telephone network or PSTN is shown as a cloud 102. A serviceprovider is shown at 104, and a reseller is indicated at 106. Aprospective customer of the reseller is shown at 108. The serviceprovider 104 is typically a company that supplies to resellers, such asthe reseller 106, software and related services. This software andrelated services enable the reseller to implement the advertising andsale of push to talk buttons to end user customers, who may bemerchants. Such sales are made by the resellers, with the necessarysoftware and subsequent related services being provided by the serviceprovider. The reseller is typically an independent contractor havingcontractual relations with the provider. The service provider may makesales to resellers or directly to end user customers.

The provider typically supplies the reseller with the software withwhich to implement his sales activities pursuant to the methodology ofthe invention. The reseller indicated at 106 maintains a telephone linkto the PSTN shown at 110. This may constitute a POTS service (plain oldtelephone service) or, in the alternative, an ISDN or the like,connection. The telephone terminal of the reseller may be a POTStelephone or may comprise a call center including an ACD or automaticcall distributor. The reseller also maintains a computer station shownat 112.

This may constitute a workstation or a personal computer (PC). Thecomputer station 112 is provided with an Internet connection, eitherthrough an Internet service provider (ISP) or by direct connection.

The end user customer at 108 is provided with a telephone connection tothe PSTN shown at 114. The end user customer is usually a merchantengaged in the sale of products or services of any of a variety oftypes. Such customer is also provided with a computer terminal 116,which may be a workstation or PC. The end user merchant normally engagesin print, telephone, and Internet advertising, and thus is provided withan Internet connection which may constitute an ISP or direct connection.

The provider at 104 is equipped with a telephone switch 118, server 120,and database 122. The telephone switch 118 is connected to the PSTN 102,while the server 120 is connected the Internet 100. The telephoneswitch, server, and database are connected to the local area network orLAN 124.

Referring to the flow diagram in FIG. 2, the operation of the system ofthe invention according to a preferred embodiment is now described. AtS1 the service provider provides to the reseller operating software foruse in carrying out the methodology of the invention. This software maybe physically delivered to the reseller but is conveniently provided viathe Internet.

At S2 the reseller installs and runs the software in his computerterminal 112.

At S3 the web site of the reseller is installed and maintained on theserver 120 of the provider.

At S4 the reseller uses the software obtained from the provider andprepares an e-mail which contains or has attached a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) file. That file includes a hyperlink telecommunicationinitiating trigger. This is sometimes referred to as a call button, hotlink, or hyperlink. The reseller addresses the e-mail to a prospectivecustomer of his choosing. To this end, the reseller may collect thee-mail addresses of individuals, businesses, or associates who he maydesire to enable to utilize a call button.

At S5 the reseller sends the e-mail to the named addressee oraddressees.

At S6 the prospective customer addressee examines the e-mail andactivates the included call button.

At S7 the activation of the call button results in the prospectivecustomer being connected via the Internet to the web page of thereseller. This page is maintained on the provider's server 120. That webpage preferably includes dialogue requesting the prospective customer toenter their address and other information, including a telephone numberat which the prospective customer desires to be contacted.

At S8 the prospective customer enters their telephone number as aminimum response to the request.

At S9 the telephone number which the prospective customer entered on thereseller's web page in the provider's server 120, is communicated to andentered into the provider's database 122 which is associated with theserver.

At S10 the server sends instructions to the telephone switch 118. Theseinstructions may be analog or digital. The server may have a modemconnection to the telephone switch and send DTMF (dual tone multiplefrequency) signals to the switch to effect a connection to the PSTN. Onthe other hand, the server may use a direct packet data connection tothe telephone switch.

At S11 the telephone switch signals the PSTN end office to which it isconnected.

At S12 the PSTN end office establishes a telephone connection from theend user customer 108 to the reseller 106. As an alternative, thedirections to the switch may result in first establishing a connectionfrom the switch to the reseller call center. After the reseller callcenter is alerted to an incoming call from the specified end usercustomer, a connection is made from the switch to the customer. Thesetwo connections are then bridged at the switch 118.

At S13 the telephone connection through the PSTN between the resellerand the end user customer is terminated by one of the parties and theprocess comes to an end.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the system andmethodology of the invention enables one party sending to another partyby electronic mail a hypertext markup language (HTML) file containing atelecommunication initiating trigger, responding to actuation of theinitiating trigger at least in part by obtaining a telephone number ofthe other party, the telephone number being obtained at least in part bytransmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) communicationbetween the other party and a web page on the server.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be preferredembodiments of the invention, it is understood that variousmodifications may be made therein and that the invention may beimplemented in various forms and embodiments, and that it may be appliedin numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein.It is intended by the following claims to claim all such modificationsand variations which fall within the true scope of the invention.

It will be readily seen by one of ordinary skill in the art that thepresent invention fulfills all of the objects set forth above. Afterreading the foregoing specification, one of ordinary skill will be ableto effect various changes, substitutions of equivalents and variousother aspects of the invention as broadly disclosed herein. It istherefore intended that the protection granted hereon be limited only bythe definition contained in the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form orembodiment with some degree of particularity, it is understood that thisdescription has been given only by way of example and that numerouschanges in the details of construction, fabrication, and use, includingthe combination and arrangement of parts, may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A method, comprising: operations performed by a serviceprovider operating a computer server for establishing a connectionbetween a first entity other than the service provider and a secondentity other than the service provider, wherein the operations comprise:providing software and related services to implement a push-to-talkinitiating trigger button, by the service provider, to a computingdevice of the first entity; maintaining a web page including a requestto enter a telephone number; connecting the web page via the Internet toa computing device of the second entity as a result of activation of thepush-to-talk initiating trigger button embedded in a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) file received from the first entity by the computingdevice of the second entity; receiving, through the web page, atelephone number of the second entity; and connecting the first entityand the second entity in response to receiving the telephone number. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein connecting the first entity and thesecond entity comprises: establishing a first connection between atelephone switch and the first entity; establishing a second connectionbetween the telephone switch and the telephone number of the secondentity; and bridging the first connection and the second connection. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the push-to-talk initiating triggerbutton includes a HTML link.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: providing an instruction to the first entity to embed theHTML file in an e-mail message and transmit the e-mail message to thesecond entity.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting the firstentity and the second entity comprises: transmitting a signal to apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) through a telephone switch,wherein the telephone switch is coupled with the computer server of theservice provider.
 6. A system for a service provider to establish aconnection between a first entity other than the service provider and asecond entity other than the service provider, the system comprising: acomputer server of the service provider programmed to, followingactivation by the second entity of a push-to-talk telecommunicationinitiating trigger button embedded in a hypertext markup language (HTML)file received from the first entity, wherein software and relatedservices were previously provided by the service provider to the firstentity for implementing the push-to-talk telecommunication initiatingtrigger button, receive through a web page that a) includes a request toenter a telephone number and b) is connected via the Internet to acomputing device of the second entity, a telephone number of the secondentity and in response connect the first entity and the second entity.7. The system of claim 6, wherein the computer server is programmed toconnect the first entity and the second entity by establishing a firstconnection between a telephone switch and the first entity, establishinga second connection between a telephone switch and the telephone numberof the second entity, and bridging the first connection and the secondconnection.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the push-to-talktelecommunication initiating trigger button includes a HTML link.
 9. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the computer server is further programmed toprovide an instruction to the first entity to embed the HTML file in ane-mail message and transmit the e-mail message to the second entity. 10.The system of claim 6, wherein the computer server is programmed toconnect the first entity and the second entity by transmitting a signalto a public switched telephone network (PSTN) through a telephoneswitch.
 11. A method comprising: operations performed by a serviceprovider for establishing a voice connection between a first entityother than the service provider and a second entity other than theservice provider, where the voice connection is established after thesecond entity activates a push to talk telecommunication initiatingtrigger button that is embedded in a hypertext markup language (HTML)file, wherein the operations comprise: maintaining a web page on a webserver, the web page including a request to enter a telephone number;generating, by the service provider, software and related services toimplement a push-to-talk initiating trigger button, the software andrelated services configured to establish a connection to the web page onthe web server in response to activation of the push-to-talk initiatingtrigger button, the push-to-talk initiating trigger button capable ofbeing embedded in the HTML file; providing the software and relatedservices to the first entity; receiving, by a computer server of theservice provider, a telephone number of the second entity, the telephonenumber being received through the web page; and signaling, by thecomputer server of the service provider, the voice connection to beestablished automatically between the first entity and the telephonenumber of the second entity in response to receiving the telephonenumber.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein signaling the voiceconnection to be established comprises: instructing a telephone switchto establish a first voice connection with the first entity; andinstructing a telephone switch to establish a second voice connectionwith the telephone number of the second entity, wherein the first voiceconnection and the second voice connection are then bridged forcommunication between the first entity and the second entity.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the push-to-talk telecommunicationinitiating trigger button includes a HTML link.
 14. The method of claim11, further comprising: providing an instruction to the first entity toembed the HTML file in an e-mail message and transmit the e-mail messageto the second entity.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein signaling thevoice connection to be established comprises: signaling a telephoneswitch to transmit a signal to a public switched telephone network(PSTN), wherein the telephone switch is coupled with the computer serverof the service provider.
 16. A system for a service provider toestablish a voice connection between a first entity other than theservice provider and a second entity other than the service provider,wherein the voice connection is established after the second entityactivates a push to talk telecommunication initiating trigger buttonthat is embedded in a hypertext markup language (HTML) file, the systemcomprising: a computer server of the service provider programmed to a)establish, in response to activation of a push-to-talk telecommunicationinitiating trigger button embedded in the HTML file received from thefirst entity, wherein software and related services were previouslyprovided by the service provider to the first entity for implementingthe push-to-talk telecommunication initiating trigger button and theHTML file is capable of being embedded in an e-mail message, aconnection to a web page that includes a request to enter a telephonenumber, and b) receive, through the webpage, a telephone number of thesecond entity and, in response to receipt of the telephone number of thesecond entity, signal the voice connection to be establishedautomatically between the first entity and the telephone number of thesecond entity.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer serveris programmed to signal the voice connection to be established byinstructing a telephony switch to establish a first voice connectionwith the first entity, and a second voice connection with the telephonenumber of the second entity, wherein the first voice connection and thesecond voice connection are to be bridged for communication between thefirst entity and the second entity.
 18. The system of claim 16, whereinthe push-to-talk telecommunication initiating trigger button includes aHTML link.
 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer server isfurther programmed to provide an instruction to the first entity toembed the HTML file in the e-mail message and transmit the e-mailmessage to the second entity.
 20. The system of claim 16, wherein thecomputer server is programmed to signal the voice connection to beestablished by signaling a public switched telephone network (PSTN)through a telephone switch.
 21. A method, comprising: operationsperformed by a service provider operating a computer server forestablishing a connection between a first entity other than the serviceprovider and a second entity other than the service provider, whereinthe operations comprise: providing software and related services toimplement a push-to-talk initiating trigger button, by the serviceprovider, to a computing device of the first entity; maintaining a webpage including a request to enter a telephone number; connecting the webpage via the Internet to a computing device of the second entity as aresult of activation of the push-to-talk initiating trigger buttonembedded in a e-mail message received from the first entity by thesecond entity; receiving, through the web page, a telephone number ofthe second entity; and connecting the first entity and the second entityin response to receiving the telephone number.
 22. The method of claim21, wherein connecting the first entity and the second entity comprises:establishing a first connection between a telephone switch and the firstentity; establishing a second connection between a telephone switch andthe telephone number of the second entity; and bridging the firstconnection and the second connection.
 23. The method of claim 21,wherein the push-to-talk initiating trigger button includes a hypertextmarkup language (HTML) link.
 24. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: providing an instruction to the first entity to embed thepush-to-talk initiating trigger button in the e-mail message andtransmit the e-mail message to the second entity.
 25. The method ofclaim 21, wherein connecting the first entity and the second entitycomprises: transmitting a signal to a public switched telephone network(PSTN) through a telephone switch, wherein the telephone switch iscoupled with the computer server of the service provider.
 26. A systemfor a service provider to establish a connection between a first entityother than the service provider and a second entity other than theservice provider, the system comprising: a computer server of theservice provider programmed to, following activation by the secondentity of a push-to-talk telecommunication initiating trigger buttonembedded in a e-mail message received from the first entity, whereinsoftware and related services were previously provided by the serviceprovider to the first entity for implementing the push-to-talktelecommunication initiating trigger button, receive through a web pagethat a) includes a request to enter a telephone number and b) isconnected via the Internet to a computing device of the second entity, atelephone number of the second entity and in response connect the firstentity and the second entity.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein thecomputer system is programmed to connect the first entity and the secondentity by establishing a first connection between a telephone switch andthe first entity, establishing a second connection between a telephoneswitch and the telephone number of the second entity, and bridging thefirst connection and the second connection.
 28. The system of claim 26,wherein the push-to-talk telecommunication initiating trigger buttonincludes a hypertext markup language (HTML) link.
 29. The system ofclaim 26, wherein the computer server is further programmed to providean instruction to the first entity to embed the push-to-talktelecommunication initiating trigger button in the e-mail message andtransmit the e-mail message to the second entity.
 30. The system ofclaim 26, wherein the computer server is programmed to connect the firstentity and the second entity by transmitting a signal to a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN) through a telephone switch.